Hobbiton
I got back from a trip to south Texas at 4:20 am this morning. A trip in which I realized that I really don’t like traveling – at least not the “traveling” part. It was a lot of driving, and a lot of my car falling apart {it now has 227,000 miles on it and makes some awful scraping noises}.
I love seeing new cultures & spending time getting to know an area, a culture and a people, but hate the actual transport part of it. I arrive to my destination tired and dirty. I don’t like being tired. Or dirty. I also usually arrive hungry, which I also don’t like being.
New Zealand-bound
I don’t think I’ve written about it here yet, but I got approved for a New Zealand working holiday visa. Which means I can enter NZ and stay for a year. I can take up work, as long as it’s not considered permanent employment. My apartment lease here in Arkansas is up at the end of October. I’ve already given them my leave notice and paid rent through the end of October. So I’m here until then, after which I leave.
Before I’d thought about applying for an NZ WHV, my intentions were to go to Santiago, Chile and stay for a few months, then go to either NZ or Australia on a tourist visa.
However, after getting approved for the NZ visa, I had a new idea. I decided it would be cool to take buses {and a boat!} through Mexico, Central America and South America to finally arrive at Santiago. I could revisit some countries {Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil} as well as see some new ones {Venezuela, Chile}.
I was really looking forward to Venezuela and Brazil. But now that I realize {remember?} how much I don’t like the actual transit aspect of travel, I’m reconsidering. I never made those plans public, so it’s not really a big deal either way.
I Can’t Do Everything… and that’s OK
I’m realizing once again that I can’t do everything. I’d probably spend all my money in South America anyway, and have run out before I realized it, and before they let me in to New Zealand. The NZ visa comes with a stipulation – I have to have proof of sufficient funds to purchase an onward ticket. Usually the immigration officials don’t ask for proof of funds/income if someone is from an affluent country like the USA, but if the particular official is in a bad mood or just feels like being a jerk… it can happen.
Once I admitted to myself this afternoon that I can’t do everything, I felt a lot more at peace about leaving. About the future in general. I’ll probably just fly to NZ from somewhere in the US. And I’ll probably start the journey to that place from XNA airport here in NWArk. And that’s ok.
I’ve got my whole life to do everything I want. I can take it easy, enjoy New Zealand. Really get into the culture. Get to know some people. Make some friends. Life is good. No rush, no hurry {no reason to!}. Just enjoy it. Already feeling about 110% less stressed than I was before.
Living the Culture
On the other hand, I love living in a culture. It allows you to get to know it better than any traveler just passing through. Getting to know the people. The language. And do all the stuff I said in the previous paragraph. Discover all the local hole-in-the-wall places. I think it really fits my personality well too. I’m more of an introverted person until I really get to know a person or group of people. Until that happens, I don’t really let go and start being myself. It’s just how I am {which is also ok}.
Settling down in a place allows me to really get to know people and be myself like constant traveling never will. For some this is still considered “traveling” but I’m going to spend a year of my life in a new country. At what point does it become more than just a “trip” to New Zealand? Not sure, but it’s not likely I’ll ever go back to living in the midwest/southern United States. I’m really looking for a home more than anything. One that’s more conducive to my lifestyle & values. So although I’m traveling to New Zealand, I can’t keep calling it “travel”. It’s more like “life”. Just in a new place.
I think I broke my car
This is really not related, but…
In other news, I’m considering purchasing a bicycle and just using it in place of an automobile. Cars are a lot of work with maintenance, insurance, gas money, etc. and I don’t really think they’re worth it if you don’t absolutely need one. If I lived in a city like San Francisco, I’d have gone the bike route long ago, but it’s more difficult in a place like Arkansas. Still, that’s an excuse. I guess the estimate on labor required to fix my car will help determine where I go with the bicycle idea.